Courageous
by NinjagoGeek4EVER
Summary: What happens when a hero rises? What happens when the leader is captured? What happens when the courageous one's secret is revealed?
1. Part 1: The Call

**A/N: Hey guys! **

**It's only been a few weeks since my last story! A record for me. But that was also, crazily enough, last year.**

**And speaking of which, in case you didn't know. it was Expendable. If you haven't read that, go and do so. You'll be confused otherwise. Yes, this is the sequel to Expendable.**

**Enjoy Courageous!**

**Part 1- The Call**

Two months.

It had been two months since the world ended. Two months since Lightning fell. Two months since Jay was supposedly lost to death. Nya had stuck true to her last promise to him. That she wouldn't tell anyone he was alive.

Allies had come to pay their respects to the fallen ninja. Skylor brought a bouquet of forget-me-nots. Ronin had simply come, though him pulling Nya aside to comfort her was more like the two of them trying to figure out what Jay was doing now. Darreth tried to comfort the ninja, but considering his "comfort" was mostly telling them they were overreacting, Kai literally kicked him out of the Monastery.

The ninja were still in grief. Kai especially. He was always shouting, "Dangit Jay, I never meant it!" up at the sky. Things would never be the same. Not now that Jay was dead.

Except he wasn't, but only Nya knew about that.

A phone call disrupted the semi-silence that had engulfed the ninja. Lloyd answered.

"Is this Lloyd Garmadon?" the person on the other end asked.

"Yes," Lloyd answered. "How may I help you?"

"I need you to meet me in the Sea of Sand. Midnight tonight. Don't bring your team."

_Villain_, Lloyd thought. "I'll be there."

"Good." And with that, the line went dead.

* * *

"Dude, you _nuts_?!" Kai yelled when Lloyd told them about the call.

"Why do you think I'm telling you guys now?!" Lloyd asked in reply. "You guys would never let me leave alone to meet a random stranger, most likely villain, in the middle of the night. I'm just sparing you the trouble of having to make sure I don't see you."

"He's got a point," Nya said, shrugging.

"Out of sight, out of mind," Cole said. "I say we do it."

* * *

Midnight that night found the five ninja in the Sea of Sand, awaiting whatever was coming next, all concerned for their little brother.

**A/N: The entire first half of this chapter is mostly explanation. Oh well! It did what was its part and the second half of this chapter was, perhaps, the hardest part about writing this particular story.**

**(Then again, I'm not too satisfied with the fourth chapter, but that's for another day.)**

**Reveiw!**

**~NG**


	2. Part 2: The Serpent's Revenge

**A/N: Here you go. Mysterious caller revealed!**

**Nothing else to say... Other than "Enjoy!"**

**Part 2- The Serpent's Revenge**

Lloyd glanced around. The others were hiding atop a sand dune behind him, but he wasn't even sure where he was supposed to be, much less what the villain wanted from him. Then the Green Ninja saw him. A hooded figure, wearing mostly violet with some black and white highlights.

"I was afraid you wouldn't show," he said. "Then again, you were always so predictable."

"You don't scare me," Lloyd declared.

"Oh, spare me the hero drama," the figure chuckled. "You wouldn't be saying that if you hadn't brought your _four_ little friends."

Lloyd placed a hand over his heart. "Ouch, man," he said. "That _actually hurt_."

"Oh, I know how to get to you," the figure said, pulling his hood back. "Old chum."

"Pythor!" Lloyd exclaimed. Pythor had already yanked Lloyd's feet out from under him, and was putting a cloth up to his face. Lloyd was unconscious in a matter of seconds.

"Good night, my old friend," the Anacondrai said to the unconscious Green Ninja.

The others charged him, Kai and Nya shouting battle cries.

"Really, how cliche," Pythor chuckled. "This is so overdone. You ninja just going and rushing at your enemies as if that would do anything. You have _got_ to come up with some better strategies, like my new one. I knew you would follow him," Pythor gestured to Lloyd, "and so I prepared to take on all _five_ of you."

"Dude, that _hurts_!" Kai exclaimed.

"You really need some better friends," Pythor said to Lloyd's figure. Turning back to the others, he said, "Fortunately, that is what I am doing. Simply reuniting him with an old friend. Ciao." And with that, he slithered away, taking Lloyd with him and leaving the other ninja standing bewildered behind him.

It took them only two seconds to realize that the "old friend" Pythor mentioned was Jay.

"He's gonna _kill Lloyd_!" Kai yelled.

"No he isn't," Nya whispered, pale-faced.

"Oh, and I suppose he's inviting Lloyd and the Overlord over for tea," Kai said.

Nya took a deep breath. "Long story short, Jay's alive."

A beat.

"JAY'S WHAT?!"

* * *

What used to be the Anacondrai tomb was coming into view just as Lloyd was coming to. His hands were, somehow, chained behind him with vengestone. He immediately started struggling.

"Oh, relax," Pythor sighed.

"Relax?!" Lloyd yelled. "How am I supposed to relax when I am being _dragged to my death_ by one of my _worst enemies_?!"

"You are right about me being one of your worst enemies, but I have something better than death planned. You see, what I want is revenge. On you specifically. So, I figured, why not tourture you? Except the physical tourture has been done already. Oh, no. Mental tourture is so much more fun when it comes to you.

"And the best way to get to you, I realized, was through your friends. But which one to target, was the question. Earth is too strong. He could overpower me easily. Ice is too clever. Water and Fire, well, they'd die before I got my hands on them. That only left one."

"Jay…" Lloyd gasped. "But he's… he's dead. You can't hurt him."

"Hm? Oh, yes. Water does seem to have a thing for keeping secrets, now. Doesn't she?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see," Pythor chuckled darkly. "And would you look at that. Here we are."

Pythor opened his tomb and threw the Green Ninja in. He landed on his stomach with a grunt.

"Lloyd?"

Lloyd turned his head to face the direction the voice came from. There, chained to a wall was the stranger. Lloyd remembered the clothes. It was the same stranger that held him and his team back from helping Nya what seemed like an eternity ago. Except his bandana was no longer covering his face.

Leaving Lloyd to recognize Jay in all the glory a crescent moon could give.

**A/N: And so the ninja learn Jay's alive. CUE THE GOING OOC!**

**That'll come later, but seriously though.**

**Reveiw!**

**~NG**


	3. Part 3: Rising Hero

**A/N: Enjoy!**

**Part 3- Rising Hero**

The ninja stormed through the Monastery doors, startling Wu and Pixal.

"What's the emergency?" Pixal asked, genuinely confused.

"Lloyd's been captured, and _she_" Kai jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at his sister, who seemed oddly sheepish "pulled another Wu on us tonight."

"What'd she do?" Wu asked in the same confusion as Pixal.

"Jay's alive and she didn't think to tell us until _tonight_," Cole answered.

"In my defense, he made me promise not to tell," Nya protested.

"Nya, you have some explaining to do," Wu sighed. "Boys, do not be too hard on her."

* * *

Lloyd was standing, chained next to Jay. Green was too stunned to speak and Blue was too sheepish. Both ninja jumped when Pythor spoke.

"Well, it's time to begin, wouldn't you agree?" he asked, rhetorically. Lloyd and Jay both balked at what that might mean. Jay turned to Lloyd with an intense look in his electric blue eyes.

"Promise me something, Lloyd," he said, not breaking eye contact. "Promise that whatever happens to me, you'll press on. No point in them losing _two_ ninjas. Promise you'll stay strong!"

Lloyd had rarely seen Jay so serious, he had no choice but to agree. Pythor only smirked as he unchained Jay's wrists from the wall and immediately chained them together. Jay stared back, much braver than Lloyd ever thought he could be.

"Cute," Pythor taunted. "Especially for the expendable one, I believe is what Fire called you."

A look of pain flashed through Jay's eyes, though was quickly replaced with one of defiance.

"Kai never meant it!" Lloyd yelled. "Jay, don't listen to him! He's only trying to hurt you!"

"Oh, Lloyd," Pythor sighed. "I believe I've told you this already, but the physical tourture is so much more fun than the mental. Except when it comes to you."

"Remember your promise!" Jay yelled over Pythor. "Don't break, no matter what happens to me. You're the leader! They can't afford to lose _you_!"

"Jay…" Lloyd whimpered.

"Stay strong! Don't break! Remember your promise!"

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Pythor chuckled darkly.

**A/N: That's that.**

**Reveiw!**

**~NG**


	4. Part 4: The Darkest Hour

**A/N: Kai's a little OOC... Oh well! Enjoy!**

**Part 4- The Darkest Hour**

Kai crumpled the piece of paper he was trying to come up with a plan on. He chucked it over his shoulder, where it rolled off the pile of similar crumpled-up papers in the wastebasket and onto the floor, joining other rejected plans.

"This is pointless!" he yelled. "While we're sitting here, trying and failing to come up with a plan that probably won't even work, Pythor's doing First Spinjitzu Master knows what to Lloyd! And Jay for that matter!"

"This is not pointless, Kai," Zane said, softly. "I am concerned for their safety as well. We cannot, however, help them unless we know what it is we are doing."

Cole nodded. "Zane's right. We have to do something." He glanced out the open door. "Maybe we should let Nya, Wu and Pixal help."

"Wu and Pixal can come in whenever they like," Kai muttered. "Nya can't."

"Kai, we get it," Zane said. "You feel guilty for calling Jay expendable, and you want someone to blame for the emotions, and your sister was an easy target."

"Shut up, Zane."

* * *

Nya sat on her bed, silently crying. Why didn't the boys let her help? They were better to her than this! Usually. Most of the time.

Who was she kidding. She was just the girl ninja. Just the symbol that a girl can fight. Well, not really anymore. Pixal had taken up that role. So what was she?

"You are you, Nya."

Nya jumped and whipped around to face the newcomer. "Oh, hey, Master." Wu bowed in politeness to her. She bowed back before turning back to her window and sighing.

"Jealous of the boys, I see."

"It's like I'm not even part of the team anymore!" she yelled, all of her anger and fear and resentment coming out in the sentence. "They don't even treat me like a member of the team anymore! What am I if not the Water Ninja? What would I be, Master, if not for my title as Water Ninja?"

"Our true selves come out in adversity," the old man mused. "This speaks volumes of your character, Nya. You do not want your team to forget you. You want to be an important member of the team. Not feeling accepted, in this case, is your brother's fault. Pixal's talking to him now."

* * *

"_Forgive_ her?!" Kai yelled. "After keeping _this_ for _two months_?! I thought Jay died without me apologizing for calling him expendable! I was wrong! I'm the expendable one! I thought I let Jay die thinking I thought he was the lowest of the low on this team! The low guy! The one that doesn't matter! I-"

"I think you can start by stop making it about yourself," Pixal interrupted. Kai blinked in surprise.

_Start by stop making it about yourself,_ Kai parroted in his head as the samurai walked off, most likely to make a rescue plan with Zane. What did she mean by that?

He realized the answer almost immediately after he thought the question. The rescue was about Lloyd and Jay, not him. And in the same instant, he forgave Nya.

**A/N: Reveiw!**

**~NG**


	5. Part 5: The Rescue

**A/N: And another chapter. Second-to-last. Hope y'all enjoy!**

**Part 5- The Rescue**

Lloyd tried to ignore what was happening right in front of him. Jay's screams as Pythor shoved hot pokers against his skin were worse than the two months of silence. Worse than Morro and Harumi combined. Because this… This was someone _intentionally hurting his friends_. Jay was _hurting_ in front of him, and he couldn't do a thing about it.

But he remembered his promise not to break and he was trying. It was taking all his energy not to shout at Pythor to stop it. Because that would break his promise to Jay.

The screaming stopped and Pythor dragged Jay's broken and burnt body over to Lloyd's side before chaining him up again. Jay's breathing was short and ragged, and his head was hung, chin against his chest. His bright blue eyes were shut. Lloyd noticed the bright red welts on his cheeks and winced.

"That looks… nasty," Lloyd commented.

Jay only gave a ragged sigh in response.

* * *

"Operation Blue-and-Green is a-go," Kai whispered to the others through their comms.

"Oh, man," Cole whispered back. "I just hope they're okay."

"Jay's stronger than I think you guys realize," Nya added. "Same thing with Lloyd."

"And you were the only one there both times!" Kai whisper-shouted back at her.

"Can we please focus on the problem at hand?" Cole asked. "Save Lloyd and Jay and get Pythor arrested."

"I have found them," Zane told them. "They are currently residing in what was formerly the Anacondrai tomb."

"Great," Nya said.

"Thanks Zane," Kai whispered.

Twenty minutes later found the four gathered on the top of the Anacondrai tomb. "Let's hope you're right about this, Zane," Cole whispered.

"I am detecting two heat signatures as well as a Serpentine," Zane explained. "Are you sure you should doubt that?"

Nya tied a rope to the top of the horn like thing no one could really figure out the purpose of and lowered it through a hole in the roof. She put a finger up to her lips in the "be quiet" gesture. The boys nodded.

They slid down the rope, as silent as four ninja on a mission could be. Kai lit up his hand and the four gasped when they found their missing brothers. Lloyd seemed fine, other than whispering, "Stop, no please stop," in his sleep.

Jay was another matter. He had bright red streaks across his cheeks and was clearly in worse condition than Lloyd.

"That… that's cruel!" Kai gasped when they realized what was happening.

"He's using Jay to get to Lloyd," Zane voiced.

"Let's just help them," Nya whispered. "Zane, keys, please."

Zane used his Ice into the keyhole on Jay's left wrist, then his right before going to Lloyd. Jay collapsed forward and Nya rushed to catch him. Landing in Nya's arms woke him up.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?!" came a voice from behind. Nya, Cole and Kai whipped around to find Pythor behind them.

"Defend them!" the siblings called in unison. Cole took a very weak and confused Jay from Nya as she and her brother wound up ready to fight. Zane took Jay from Cole once he had freed Lloyd. Without hesitation, Cole plunged into the brawl.

* * *

When the police arrived on a call from the ninja, they only found Pythor chained to the wall in the Anacondrai tomb.

"I hate those ninja," he said.

**A/N: Yep, Pythor's arrested.**

**Reveiw!**

**~NG**


	6. Part 6: Home Again

**A/N: Second-to-last chapter, GO!**

**On a completely unrelated note, probably the randomest thing that's happened to me in all my D&D sessions happened yesterday. Let's just say the entire party was woken up by a random deer in the middle of the night. I'm ****_still_**** laughing about it.**

**Part 6- Home Again**

Pixal and Wu were waiting anxiously for the ninja to return. Pixal was making a celebratory meal while Wu sat on the steps just outside the doors. He wondered if they had succeeded. He loved them as if they were his own children. To lose Jay meant silence. Would laughter once again ring through the Monastery after Jay's return?

Then he heard the familiar teasings, though this time, it had nothing to do with who they could afford to lose.

"…and Pythor's face when Kai and I tackled him!" Nya exclaimed. "That was a hoot." Laughter had indeed returned, but quickly fell silent save it be for one.

Jay's laugh.

* * *

Allies and parents were invited to the Monastery, though the ninja didn't say for what and none of the allies could figure out why the ninja were so happy. None, that is, except Ronin.

He was the first to show, laughing and telling Jay, "I knew it wouldn't last."

Ed and Edna were naturally overjoyed to see their son alive and well and Jay took their hugs with tears of joy in his eyes.

Skylor dropped the bouquet of forget-me-nots she had brought and could only stand there in shock. The other Elemental Masters and the others' parents had similar reactions.

Darreth wasn't invited.

* * *

It took the mailman a minute to figure out what was weird about the Monastery. It hadn't had a makeover recently, at least not on the outside. And everyone inside seemed joyful.

Then he realized what it was: laughter. The Monastery had been silent for two months and now there was laughter and chitchat going on inside.

Wondering what had happened to have changed everything so drastically, the mailman rang the doorbell. Only to jump back and yell in alarm as Jay opened the door.

"You're supposed to be _dead_!" the mailman yelled.

Jay laughed and said, "I've been getting that a lot recently. Want to come in for cake or something? And what about the others' fanmail?"

"Uhh…"

"Who is it, Jay?" Kai called.

"The mailman," Jay called back. "No one minds if he crashes the party, right?"

"Of course not, ol' buddy," Cole declared, giving Jay a noogie. Jay laughed again, but this time Cole went absolutely silent until Jay stopped.

* * *

It took the world only two hours after Jay's "welcome back from the dead" party to realize what had happened. Naturally, everyone went bonkers.

Huge Jay fans were constantly exclaiming, "I knew he wasn't dead!" to their friends.

The news was launching a story about how the Cursed Realm it was even possible that Jay faked his death on accident. And rolled with it!

Darreth was just furious that he wasn't invited to Jay's "welcome home" party.

**A/N: And me making fun of Darreth because I don't like the guy. Deal with it. XD**


	7. Part 7: Not One Light

**A/N: Weird that this is my second update in three days. Huh. On another note, I've basically started civil war in a D&D ****campaign yesterday.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**Part 7- Not One Light**

Lloyd flew towards the blue-clad figure on the rooftop of an apartment building in Ninjago City. It had only been a day since his return, but everyone still found it hard to believe he was alive. All except for Nya, who was getting tons of stuff for knowing for two months and not saying anything to anyone. She had managed to divert some of her attention over to Ronin.

"Thought I'd find you here," said Green to Blue as he recalled his Dragon.

"I _am_ a bit predictable, aren't I?" Jay chuckled. Lloyd smiled sadly. Two months without him had changed the whole team. The mood quickly changed to somber.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Lloyd asked. "And for this discussion, Ronin and Nya don't count."

Jay averted his eyes. "Am I just the expendable one?"

"Jay! No one is expendable!"

"Kai seems to think otherwise."

Lloyd straightened slightly. "Then I guess I'll have to have a talk with him later. Jay, we _need_ you on the team. It's too quiet without you. No one laughed. We rarely talked with each other. The TV was never turned on. Dinner was silent. For two months, Jay. You're the life and soul of the team. Things never get dull with you around."

"And I'm sure that things would've been just as quiet if Kai or Zane or even you had tripped," Jay argued.

"Jay, it would not have," Lloyd argued back. "Because you would've been there. You would've been telling everyone what a great friend they were. You would've been sharing your favorite memories of them. None of us… _none of us_, did that. You would at least give cause for remembering the fallen hero. None of the rest of us can do that, Jay.

"And you can forget using the excuse of being the expendable one. No one is expendable. Not even you. In fact, Jay, I'd say you're the courageous one."

"Courageous?" Jay asked, blinking.

"Yes, courageous. Jay, who else can stare death in the eye and somehow get everyone laughing at the same time? No one. Courage, Jay is standing up to our fears, and I know perhaps a little too much about those."

They looked back over the city, Lloyd deep in thought and Jay just staring at the banners on the buildings. The familiar "#NeverForget" stared right back at him. All that for him.

"You affect us all, Jay," Lloyd said softly. "Both for better and for worse."

Jay laughed. Oh, how Lloyd missed that laugh. How the world had missed that laugh. The laugh that was always sincere.

"Now c'mon. I think Zane's making lunch."

* * *

The biggest change in the Monastery was that they now fell silent quickly whenever Jay laughed. They never again wanted it to leave the world.

**A/N: Well, that was fun. Hope y'all enjoyed Expendable and Courageous! If you want to see what else I posted this week, check out my one-shot Titanium Hearts.**

**Reveiw!**

**~NG**


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